The Future of America's Past (TV Series)

Transcontinental (2020)

Edward L. Ayers: Self - Host

Quotes 

• [first lines] 

  Self - Host : For a moment in 1869, the nation watched what happened here. Two trains came together and sparked excitement all over the country. America's railroads now stretched west from the Atlantic, east from the Pacific and met here. That's not as simple as it sounds. The story of how the trains made it here, is in many ways the story of the nation itself.

• [last lines] 

  Self - Host : Max is helping to make sure that the stories we tell about the railroad not only broaden the picture but are more accurate. A truer telling of history allows us to see so much more. We can see Utah and the entire American West shaped by generations of government investment. We see corporations making indelible marks on people and the land. It's a revision of history and it's also a correction. Every region of the country has a story of power and money and labor and how they made America. If we try harder to see those stories, we'll see a fuller picture of how the United States took shape.